Ancient Roman music may have sunk without a trace in the depths of history - at least in its written form - but in THE ANCIENT ROMAN LYRE Michael Levy has evoked its "anima", its aspiring soul, better than any other treatment I've yet heard even by academic ensembles. Every aspect of lyre playing technique Michael has learned is employed, yet in the spirit of the Golden Mean, never any one of them too much. More disciplined tonally in its melodic formulations than most of Michael's previous work, THE ANCIENT ROMAN LYRE features the *kinnor or late-model Hebrew lyre built by Marini Made Harps, the "secret sauce" of the style of just intonation implied by Suzanne Haik-Vantoura's resitution of biblical chant, the use of various ancient Greco-Roman diatonic modes, and the excellence of timbre granted by modern string materials evoking ancient equivalents. The result of Michael's focused efforts is music worthy of cinematography, of historical documentary."

Clips of some of the tracks from this album were used to accompany a reading of the writings of Pliny the Younger, in his description of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, in a programme about volcanoes on BBC Radio 5 Live:

Step into the Tardis, or Mr. Peabody's wayback machine and travel to ancient Rome. Visit the balmy courts where slaves attend Kings and Queens with fans, food and finery, while the court musician plays in a quiet corner for their quiet contemplation. These ancient-inspired tunes will take you there, with just a pinch of your imagination to fuel your time machine, Michael Levy will be your tour guide to help you relive the past in glorious splendor"

Though this is a collection of original compositions by Michael Levy, he has crafted a careful and beautiful expression of an ancient musical modality. He clearly researches all available materials before writing his music so as to best capture what the music from Ancient Rome may have sounded like. That said, he also brings an expressive contemporary sensibility to the music, particularly evident in pieces like “Libation to Laetitia” and “Dark Realms of Pluto.” Those are pieces that are not just stale ideals of Roman music, but emotional excavations into the expression ancient artisans might have sought with their instruments. A truly beautiful work, Michael Levy is an artist that should be far more known than he is"

Nero himself always wanted to play and dance, but failed utterly at it due to his lack of talent. I bet he looks down with envy on Michael Levy's composition and magnificent performance. Though, he has nothing to be envious of, nothing to be jealous over, no need for spite. As this breathtaking piece of ancient music is dedicated to him!

I could listen to this piece 10 times a day every day for the rest of my life and not get tired of it! A must have for every ancient Roman music fan!!!"

My myriad of "Musical Adventures in Time Travel" would not be complete, without exploring the notorious Emperor Nero - the most famous (or rather infamous!) lyre player of antiquity, who we actually know by name! According to the timeless folklore, Nero famously played his lyre to accompany the Lament he sang as Rome burnt in the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE: whether this event was fact or fiction is irrelevant - the concept of this unique single, is to evoke upon my own lyre, what Nero's famous lament may have actually sounded like. It was my was my aim in composing "Nero's Lyre" to transport the listener back in time, to relive once more, this timeless, classic moment from antiquity - enjoy your journey...

This single features a completely spontaneous improvisation for chelys (tortoise shell form) lyre, recorded, live in my own garden at the height of summer, with nothing but the soothing, timeless background sounds of flowing water and birdsong.

Below is a video featuring the music, set to a backdrop of reconstructed Roman gardens and some of the beautiful surviving 1st century fresco's from Pompeii, capturing an essence of the lost tranquility of the gardens of Classical antiquity...

There are many impressive records of Ancient Greek music but the question remains the same: how this music really sounded in Antiquity? The problem is that the Greeks and the Romans used the gut strings, but how to re-create these strings in modern conditions? Researcher Peter Pringle supposed that silk strings could sound most close to these Ancient world strings. Michael Levy wrote new music for lyre using just intonation. The result is pleasant melody and it'd hard to believe that we are hearing strings made not from metal but from natural live material - the silk. So it's not authentic Ancient Greek music but this track gives us possibilty to imagine how it sounded.

By the way, records by Michael could be helpful for the teachers of history - from my own experience I could say that some kids are listening to his records with the interest"